Yamaha: Oliveira, Quartararo clash ‘borderline, bit ambitious’

Fabio Quartararo’s Italian MotoGP Sprint ended on the second lap when contact from Miguel Oliveira sent them both into the gravel.

The Frenchman, who had finished the opening lap in 14th place, said:

“I talked with Miguel a little bit. He, of course, braked really late, he made a mistake, and we crashed together. But these things can happen.

“I couldn't collect any information for the race… Let's see what we can do tomorrow.”

The FIM Stewards deemed the accident a racing incident, with no further action taken. The same judgement applied to the Jorge Martin-Enea Bastianini incident.

Quartararo is understood to have visited the Stewards after the race.

The Frenchman was not seeking a penalty for Oliveira but wanted to highlight that he received a long lap at Assen 2022 for being ‘overly ambitious’ when attempting to pass Aleix Espargaro, even though the Aprilia rider did not fall.

Monster Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli called the Oliveira incident ‘borderline’ and, perhaps not by coincidence, used the word 'ambitious’.

“It's a shame that Fabio's challenge ended early today, but we are happy that he is unharmed," Meregalli said. "This accident is quite borderline. We think that Miguel was a bit ambitious in his actions."

Alex Rins was thus the only Yamaha to reach the finish, in 13th.

“Today, the feeling with the bike was a little bit different from what I felt on Friday,” Rins said. “I was struggling a little bit more to turn the bike and to get the traction.

“We need to work and understand why this is. We need to find something on the bike to close the gap.”